Elon Musk's DOGE cuts hit Ogden, Utah's nexus of local federal employees.
Hits & Misses
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Hit: Cutting Deep
If you haven't felt the pain from DOGE, you soon will. Layoffs will be indiscriminate as the wrecking ball of so-called efficiency hits Utah where it hurts. Federal workers have been protesting around the country, and Utah is no outlier. In Ogden—the nexus of the state's federal workforce—citizens participated in a "Save Our Services Rally," even as employees received confusing emails asking to detail their work in the last week. The Washington Post offered these answers to a five-bullet-point request from Elon Musk: "This week I accomplished: 100% of the tasks and duties required of me by my position description" and "100% of the work product that my manager and I have agreed to." The fifth and final bullet said: "I exceeded expectations in the delivery of the above." In Ogden, 1,000 local IRS employees on probationary status are at risk. Ogden's Standard-Examiner wrote about a collaborative effort, including job fairs to help federal workers. "Ogden City along with vital community resource providers ... remains committed to scaling our response as needed." At least somebody cares.
Miss: Hunger Games
Lawmakers say they "deeply care" about children, and it just hurts their souls that kids are going hungry. But hey, those kids should buck up, maybe get a job, or tell their single parent not to be so damned needy. That was the message from the House Education Committee as they considered HB100, Food Security Amendments. The bill managed to proceed—for now. It would provide no-cost breakfast and lunch to eligible kids, a problem that came to light because of large school-lunch debts. Food insecurity is a real problem, even in the summer months, and this bill adds about $2 million to stanch the bleeding. Still, there were some lawmakers concerned about creating long-term dependency on the government. If kids starve to death, that won't be a problem.
Miss: Power Corrupts
Everyone knows that nuclear energy is clean—until it isn't. Of course, that's the problem, at least one of them. The other, of course, is the vast amount of water needed. While the state prepares to create a nuclear consortium to educate the public, there are still no plans to store nuclear waste. Meanwhile, energy needs are soaring, particularly with the growth of "large load" artificial intelligence data centers. Various legislative bills are looking at coal and natural gas to power the centers, but they're still not on board with alternative energy sources. The nonprofit Utah Clean Energy wants to see a combination of clean resources. It looks like renewables don't qualify.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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